WILSON PLOVER 257 



PAGOLLA WILSONIA WILSONIA (Ord.) 

 WILSON PLOVER 

 HABITS 



All along the Atlantic coast from New Jersey to Florida is a 

 broken chain of sea-girt islands, with broad or steep, sandy or shelly 

 beaches on the ocean side, backed in many places by shifting sand 

 dunes and bordered on the inner or bay side by wide marshes of 

 waving grass or extensive flats exposed at low tide. Here, on the 

 broader, more open sand flats, among a scattered array of shells, 

 pebbles, and other debris cast up by the sea, or in the flat hollows 

 among the sand dunes, this little sand plover makes its home, within 

 sound of the pounding surf and fanned by the ocean breezes that 

 carve the dunes into fantastic shapes. Here, if we love to wander in 

 these seaside solitudes, we may see this gentle bird running along the 

 beach ahead of us, his feet twinkling so fast that we can hardly see 

 them; he is unafraid, as he stops and turns to watch us; the black 

 bands on his head and breast help to obliterate his form and he 

 might be mistaken for an old seashell or bit of driftwood; but, as 

 we draw near, he turns and runs on ahead of us, leading us thus on 

 and on up the beach. There is an air of gentleness in his manner 

 and an air of wildness in his note as he flies away. 



Spring. — As the northern limit of the winter range extends well 

 up to central Florida, the Wilson plover has not far to migrate. 

 It is an early migrant. We saw it in Pinellas County, Fla., as early 

 as February 7, where a few were present all winter. C. J. Pen- 

 nock's notes record it at Charlotte Harbor on February 21 and 24, 

 on two successive years. Arthur T. Wayne (1910) says that 

 it arrives in South Carolina late in March; his earliest date is 

 March 26. 



Courtship. — During the month of March, when this species became 

 common in the vicinity of Tampa Bay, Fla., I had some oppor- 

 tunities to watch its simple courtship display. A male shot on 

 March 14 had sexual organs developed nearly to full breeding size 

 and many of the birds were in pairs. In making the display the 

 male runs around the female in a crouching, hunchbacked attitude, 

 with the head lowered, the tail depressed and spread, and the wings 

 drooping. The female seems indifferent at first, but finallj^ she ac- 

 cepts the caresses of the male. They seem to be preoccupied in their 

 love affairs and allow a close approach. 



Nesting. — On the sandy reefs and broad ocean beaches of the 

 outer islands about Bulls Bay, S. C, we found several nests of 

 Wilson plover on May 22 and 23, 1915. The nests were on the 



